Leather paddles

Most often, when people first explore BDSM, they usually want to try out the sensations of spanking. It is usually accomplished with the bare hand and usually over-the-knee ("OTK") or in the bed. It is a very intimate and "up-close and personal" kind of activity. And, needing no equipment, it can be impromptu. But ... pretty soon the spanker starts to hurt almost as much as the spankee! He or she wants some respite. Or the insatiable "lead-bottom" wants more, and more and ... as you know, the average hand is full of small, delicate bones and only lightly padded. The average butt is round and has big bones under the surface. This is the one of the main reasons for adding implements to the play.

Paddles

A paddle is a wooden instrument with a long, flat face and narrow neck, existing in various sizes and dimensions, used to administer corporal punishment to the buttocks, especially in North America. It is rarely found in the rest of the English-speaking world, where the same purpose is typically served by a rattan cane For novices, play-at-homes and just about everyone, the Paddle is the easiest and most convenient implement to use. It is small enough for over-the-knee positions, is firm enough to be accurate, and is effective in many different shapes, designs and materials. Usually it is broad, has a handle of some kind and the "business end" is either round or square.

Paddling is mainly used in the (mainly Southern and rural) United States as a means to discipline misbehaving school students. It might also still be found and used in some homes to punish children

Paddling as punishment in U.S. schools

The paddle is the almost invariable implement in US schools that still allow corporal punishment for student misconduct. Typically, with two or more administrators present, the student is told to bend over a desk or chair and receives the prescribed number of strokes of the paddle,

Judicial punishment

The wooden paddle has not featured in official judicial or prison punishments in the western world, but something like it is shown in use in a photograph from China circa 1900. In the same era, a similar process was employed in Korea. In both cases the punishment was delivered to the offender's bare buttocks.

Social discipline

• Some university or college traditions enforce(d) rules by paddling offenders. In the University of Missouri until World War II any freshman found on the 'quad', the most prestigious square on campus, had to offer his 'insolent' posterior for punishment along a paddle line formed by swatting seniors.
• Fraternities and sororities are commonly associated with paddling of members, especially new members or pledges. Due to modern hazing laws and anti-hazing regulations by Greek organizations, this has declined. This entire subculture is peculiar to North America, and unknown in the British world.

Leather
Our personal preference as crafters of BDSM toys is leather, mainly because it "gives" more than wood and is more forgiving of error. Leather can be as firm and authoritative as the heaviest hair brush, especially when made of boot-sole leather and/or laminated for mass and weight. Or the leather used can be be lighter in weight and "smacky."

Among the leathers we use for paddles is a wide variety of sensations: from the slickness of patent leather to the knubby textures like sting-ray or sharkskin. Even among the bovines, there is a difference in texture and sensation between smooth cowhide and the more robust bull hides. We even have a new Adam's Paddle with rabbit fur on one side to contrast with the hard, smooth leather or gritty layer of the other surface. Paddles of any variety are usually an economical choice as well. A top-of-the-line paddle is usually less expensive than a plain flogger. Paddles are made to be firm and stay that way with continued use. On the other hand, straps are more flexible, and get even more so with use.

Our cored paddles have an inner support that is the full size of the paddle. No steel bar down the center to wear in and eventually defeat the paddle's shape in use. The paddle edges are rounded, dyed and burnished and the entire paddle is polished before it leaves our shop. There are a few stitched paddles that we have had made and imported and these are clearly identified.

Like our other BDSM toys, we make almost all the paddles models you see in this section, so you can alter the specifications of length, thickness and color of the paddle to suit your own needs, usually with little or no additional cost. For more information please visit our website www.faport.com